Putin Sends Clear Message to NATO By Revising Russian Nuclear Doctrine

Putin Sends Clear Message to NATO By Revising Russian Nuclear Doctrine

Sputnik

Moscow has signaled that it is ready to adapt its nuclear doctrine to emerging geopolitical challenges. What changes could be made?

Russian President Vladimir Putin announced plans for the further development of the Russian nuclear triad to guarantee strategic deterrence and ensure the balance of power in the world at a June 21 meeting with graduates of higher military educational institutions.

Earlier, at a press conference in Vietnam, the Russian president noted that Moscow is considering possible changes to its national nuclear doctrine due to the West's attempts to lower the threshold for the use of nuclear weapons. Putin particularly referred to Western military experts discussing the idea of a limited use of low-yield nuclear arms.

The president specified that Russia is not planning to include a preemptive nuclear strike in its doctrine, because the enemy would be definitely destroyed by a retaliatory attack.

Putin is sending a clear message to the West, according to Dmitry Kornev, the founder of the Military Russia portal. However, he doesn't expect dramatic changes to the Russian nuclear policy.

There are four conditions determining the possibility for Russia's use of nuclear weapons, according to the Fundamentals of Nuclear Deterrence State Policy, which was published on June 2, 2020:

receipt of reliable information about the launch of ballistic missiles attacking the territories of the Russian Federation and/or its allies;

the enemy's use of nuclear weapons or other types of weapons of mass destruction on the territories of the Russian Federation and/or its allies;

the adversary is acting against critical Russian government or military installations, which could disrupt the response of Russian nuclear forces;

aggression against the Russian Federation with the use of conventional weapons, when the very existence of the state is threatened.

It is no secret that low-yield nuclear weapons already exist, according to retired Lieutenant-General Yevgeny Buzhinsky, chairman of PIR-Center think tank's executive board and professor at the Higher School of Economics.

"Low-yield nuclear weapons are those in the range from 0.5 to 50 kilotons," Buzhinsky told Sputnik. "What was dropped on Hiroshima at one time (20 kilotons) could be called a low-yield bomb, according to current definitions."

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